Fr Vincent Sherlock “It clears your mind and eases stress”, she told me. She wasn’t alone! Nearly every child in the class had some variant of the stress reliever and mind-clearer in hand as well. They were in a variety of colours and one even glowed in the dark. Thankfully I was in touch enough to…

“I go on ahead to prepare a place for you!” Jesus speaks those words to his disciples on the eve of his death as he sits at table with them and senses their sadness as they grapple with his dying, his going away. His words are meant to console them and give them the assurance…

Roger Childs During the nine years I have been in my present role as Genre Head of RTÉ Religious Programmes, the continued broadcasting of Angelus chimes on RTÉ Radio One and RTÉ One television, has been debated a number of times in a number of different settings, from the letters pages of newspapers, to local and national…

“It is vital that the past is excavated and that past abuses are exposed and those who were abused listened to”, writes Michael Kelly This week saw yet another damning report on the failure to protect vulnerable Irish children. Amongst the findings was the fact that children were left in foster homes despite credible evidence…

“if an older person feels that their sons and daughters haven’t been particularly caring, I think they should be entitled to distribute their worldly goods as they see fit”, writes Mary Kenny I don’t imagine that most of us older people will be rushing off to our solicitors to alter our wills in the wake…

Plans to give away the St Vincent’s Healthcare Group may need Vatican approval, writes Greg Daly According to the Religious Sisters of Charity, their planned cessation of involvement in the St Vincent’s Healthcare Group has been in the works for two years. For all that their plan has been widely praised as a noble, elegant…

Society has to decide what the governing ethos of its hospitals should be, writes David Quinn News that the Sisters of Charity are ending their involvement with the St Vincent’s Healthcare Group (SVHG), and therefore with the three hospitals that come under the group, is very sad. In retrospect, the sisters should never have let…

Muted reactions to statements from Cardinal Gerhard Müller are highly revealing, writes John L. Allen Jr. There’s an old philosophical head-scratcher about whether, if a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make a noise? In similar fashion, one might ask if an alleged Vatican heavyweight makes…

“There has never been a greater need for mutual understanding and cooperation”, writes Michael Kelly Sadly we’re becoming all-too-used to that sinking feeling of waking up in the morning to turn on the radio to news of yet another terrorist atrocity in towns and cities that are known to us. That feeling is all-the-more heart-wrenching…

“With abortion legislation, he did not permit deputies to vote according to their consciences”, writes Mary Kenny Europe is this year marking the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther’s famous first protest, in 1517, which became in effect, the beginning of what is sometimes called the Protestant Revolution, and sometimes the Reformation. The Catholic Church has,…